International AML Releasing New Crypto Regulations

A global money-laundering watchdog has just revealed its plan to start publishing a set of rules designed specifically for international cryptocurrency regulation. It is even expected to arrive by next summer.

The Jurisdictions

According to official reports, the Financial Action Task Force or FATF explained that global jurisdictions are required to bring into force licensing schemes or regulations, which will be aimed towards all crypto exchanges. The said jurisdictions are also expected to include digital wallet providers under the new rules. FATF is basically a France-based intergovernmental body that was founded in 1989 in order to develop policies that would tackle money laundering.

FATF also revealed that they are going after companies offering financial services for initial coin offerings, and all of these business entities will be under the same jurisdictions.

The news comes after the intergovernmental body’s plenary meeting this week with officials from 204 global jurisdictions. The rendezvous is set in place to discuss crypto regulations and other matters.

Other reports suggest that FATF’s president, Marshall Billingslea, designated June as the month in which the group will begin publishing its guidelines and enforcement expectations.

He was quoted as saying:

“By June, we will issue additional instructions on the standards and how we expect them to be enforced.”

The October Deadline

As already reported sometime in July, the G20 member countries had been eyeing at an October 2018 deadline for movement on a global anti-money laundering (AML) standard around cryptocurrency.

With the G20 seeking “vigilant” monitoring of cryptocurrencies, FATF was called on to clarify how its existing AML standards could be applied to cryptocurrency.

In a statement released on Friday, the Financial Action Task Force said that “there is an urgent need for all countries to take coordinated action to prevent the use of virtual assets for crime and terrorism.”

“As part of a staged approach, the FATF will prepare updated guidance on a risk-based approach to regulating virtual asset service providers, including their supervision and monitoring; and guidance for operational and law enforcement authorities on identifying and investigating illicit activity involving virtual assets,” the FATF explained in its missive.

It is worth noting that Japan and South Korea are two nations that have already undergone a tightening of crypto regulations across its exchanges. Several European nations like Switzerland, Malta, and France are already looking to regulate ICO projects as regulatory pressure mounts against the industry. The goal of achieving regulatory standardization across the crypto sphere was once a pipedream, but piece by piece it is coming to fruition.

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